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When a guidance counselor asks high school students about their future careers, the students never name purchasing professional as a choice, said Brad Douglas, commissioner for Georgia’s Department of Administrative Services.

However, the workforce tide is turning — although high schoolers might not recognize it. In tough economic times, taxes decrease as consumers spend less money. That reality will demand that officials emphasize better purchasing approaches, Douglas said. As a result, purchasing will continue to climb higher on an agency executive’s priority list.

“I think there’s a very, very bright future for purchasing professionals,” he said.

Meanwhile, layoffs increase in tough times, and people start to see the government as a stable institution, able to weather a storm. Douglas expects the pool of applicants for public-sector jobs to greatly improve as companies cut back their workforces. Georgia has already upgraded its job descriptions and benchmarked pay scales against private- and public-sector purchasing jobs.

“We have people knocking on our door,” he said. “That’s a great position to be in — to get the pick of the litter, if you will.”

About the Author

Matthew Weigelt is a freelance journalist who writes about acquisition and procurement.

FCW investigated efforts by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to improve a joint data repository on military and veteran suicides. Something as impersonal and mundane as incomplete datasets could be exacerbating a national tragedy.